Music-sheet turner.



:F. MARCELLINO.

MUSIC SHEET TURNER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 19, 1917.

/6 k J nuewtoz Whi? $11 al i ozmmg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS MARCELLINO, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

I w MUSICeSHEET TURNER.

1,252,135 5, Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 19, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS MARCELLINO, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Music- Sheet Turners, of which the following is a description in such full, clear and exact terms as will en able any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to an improvement in devices for turning music leaves. The musician almost invariably has both hands engaged in the operation of his instrument and it is a great inconvenience and some times an interruption of the music for the leaves to be turned manually by the musician. Hence this invention relates to those devices which are employed for automatically turning leaves or for turning the leaves through the action of the musician not however, depending upon the use of his hands, as for example, by turning the leaves through the operation of a foot pedal.

The invention involves certain novel features of construction and combination of parts which will be fully set forth hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Reference is now had to the accompanying drawings which represent as an ex ample, the preferred embodiment of my in vention in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of the music stand with the leaf turning device applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the upper part of the music stand and the rear parts of the leaf turning device.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the leaf turning device, and

Fig. 1 is a section of one of the spring barrels on the line 41- 1 of Fig. 1.

10 represents the stand, which, of course, is of the usual construction and which mounts the leaf holder plate 11 through a leaf holder base 12. The stand 11 has a ledge 14 at its lower portion which supports the leaves so that they may be conveniently read by the musician, all of which is in accordance with the usual practice.

A treadle 15 is provided with suitable devices 16 for removably fastening it to the floor and a chain rod or other suitable connection 17 extends from the treadle upward l Patented J an. 1, 1918.

Serial No. 181,464.

to a lever 18 which is fastened to and turns with a shaft 19 mounted in a bearing 20 carr1ed on the base 12 of the leaf holder 11. The lever 18 has a branch 18 and this branch forms a fork with the free end of the lever between the parts of which fork is located a stop 21 by which the rocking movement of the lever is limited. 22 is a suitable spring which serves to lift the lever 18 after it has been depressed by the operation of the treadle 15. F astened on the shaft 19 is a half ratchet 23 which is engaged by hook pawl 24 pivoted on the lever 18 so that upon the vibration of the lever 18 the ratchet 23 is given a step by step forward movement which is communicated to the shaft 19. The parts above described are at the front side of the music sheet. Thi shaft 19 extends through to the rear and carries fast a pinion 25 which meshes with the rack 26 held to slide in bearings 27 mounted on the base 12. Therefore as the pawl and ratchet devices 23 and 24 give the shaft 19 a step by step rotating motion, the rack 26 is advanced through the bearing 17 with a corresponding motion. 28 is an arm operating back of the leaf holder 11 which is fastened rigidly to the rack 26 and projects upward to and above the upper edge of the leaf holder and which arm moves with'the rack 26 with the aforesaid step by step motion.

A spindle 29 is rigidly attached by a fastening 30 to the rear of the music holder 11 and rotatably carries a number, three or more, barrels 31 in which the helical springs 32 are arranged, said springs being fastened to the spindle and to the barrels. Each barrel carries a leaf turner arm 33 and the springs are so disposed that they tend to throw the arms leftward in Fig. 1 to the position occupied by the single arm 33 which is shown in the left handposition in Fig. 1. 34. is a stop arm which limits the leftward throw of the arms 33. The arms 33 are of different lengths and are held back from the action of the spring by the aforesaid arm 28 but as said arm 28 moves with the rack it successively releases the arms 33 and permits them to swing from one position to another as described. Fig. 1-

shows the parts in such position as corresponds with the release of the first arm 33 while yet retaining the other two arms 33 and the further movement of the arm 28 in the direction of the arrow indica e 1 Flg.

1 will successively release the two remaining arms 33.

By means of the swinging arms 33 thus successively released by the musician operating the treadle the leaves of the music sheet are turned in succession under the will of the musician. The said arms are con nected with the music leaf sheets by means of pivoted fingers which are respectively mounted on the arms 33 and formed as elbows *itn hooks 36, which are intended to be respectively engaged with the upper edges of the sheets and in this way the arms are connected with the sheets. By pivoting the fingers 35 they may be easily moved up and down to engage and disengage the leaves of the music sheet.

In the operation of the device the musician places the music sheets upon the ledge 14; in the usual manner and turns all of the leaves over to the right hand side as though the book were closed. Then the said fingers 35 are lifted up ard and their hooks 36 successively engaged with the leaves of the music sheet. As the music is rendered and it becomes necessary to turn leaf by leaf the musician operates the t-readle- 15 and through this the lever 18 is moved back and forth and by the pawl and ratchet devices 23 and 2a the shaft 19 is given a step by step progressive motion which correspondingly advances the r cl: 26. The advance of the rack advances the arm N ow this arm having been previously adjusted'to hold back arms 33 and said arms 83 being of progressively increasing lengths it will be noted that they will be released in succession and as each arm is released the spring corresponding thereto will throw said arm over carrying with it its corresponding finger 35 and the page of the music leaf which is connected thereto. In this way the musician may suecessively turn the pages of the music without the use of his hands and allowing him to operate his instrument without interruption.

To reset the instrument it is only neces sary to return the pages tothe right hand position and turn all ofthe arms 33 to the right hand position. Thus the pawl 2a is lifted and the'arm 28 is returned so that it holds the arms 33 back in the position shown at the right hand side of Fig. l whereupon the parts are ready for a repetition of the operation, the arm 18 being lifted so that the pawl 24; when it drops may renew its hold on the ratchet 28. The stop 3t simply operates to prevent a successive rotating motion of the arms 33.

The device may be cheaply constructed of stamped metal and since it does not interfere with the standard practice of professional musicians it will not offer. any uncouth appearance and is of great assistance to them in the prosecution of their profession.

hat I claim is 1. A music sheet turning device, comprisinga music holder, including a leaf holder plate having a ledge for the support of the leaves, a horizontal shaft, an actuated lever pivotally mounted in front of the music holder, means for giving said shaft a step by step rotary motion from said actuated lever, a pinion on said shaft, a horizontally movable rack meshing with said pinion, a set of spring actuated leaf turning arms of different lengths, said rack including a vertically extending member the free end of which is adapted to normally engage said leaf turning arms and upon the displace ment of. said rack to successively release the same 2. A music sheet turning device comprising a music holder, :1 horizontal shaft below said holder, a ratchet on said shaft in front and a pinion thereon at the back of said holder, a rack arranged and movable horizontally across the back of said holder and meshing with said pinion, a vertical member fixed to said rack and extending throughout the entire hei 'ht of the music holder, a set of spring actuated leaf turning arms of different lengths the ends of which normally are adapted to be engaged by said vertical member and to be successively released by the horizontal displacement thereof, and a treadle operated spring actuated lever carrying a pawl meshing with said ratchet wheel to impart a step. by step motion to said rack.

3. In a music sheet turning device, a music holder, a set of spring actuated leaf holders of different lengths on top of said music holder, means thereon for engaging the 1nu sic sheets, a horizontally displaceable member adapted to normally engage the ends of said leaf holders and on its horizontal displacement to release the same one by one,"a ratchet and pawl for controlling the'movement of said member, a t'readle operated lever to operate said ratchet and pawl, said lever being bifurcated, and a stop on the music holder, arranged between the branches of said lever to limit the rocking movement thereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS MARGELLINO.

lVitnesses ISAAC B. OWENS, VINCENT J. OAGLIOSTRO.

(topics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of'latents, Washington, I). G. 

